Small Comforts
by ladywentworth
Summary: A day in Korra's journey to recovery, and she learns that sometimes the small things can mean everything. Post-Book 3. Korra POV with multiple characters (the Krew, Kya, Pema). One-shot.


**All recognizable characters and allusions are property of Viacom, Nickelodeon, and the creators of The Legend of Korra.**

_Summary_: A day in Korra's journey to recovery, and she learns that sometimes the small things can mean everything.

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><p>Two weeks had gone by since Jinora's ceremony. It was now a month since...<p>

Korra stared at the wall in front of her. It was brightly lit with the morning sun coming in from the window to her right, the smooth beige of the paint flat and featureless like the blank of her thoughts. The bottom of her vision was filled with the soft glow of the healing blue water of the tub she was laying in, the whistling sound of its energy strengthening her chi dull in her ears.

"Korra, look," said Kya beside her, her voice bright and hopeful. "I think you're healing yourself. I'm hardly bending the water. See?"

Korra's gaze flickered down to her body, where the water glowed brightest near her skin. "Yeah," she replied, unsure of the question Kya just asked her.

"This is a good sign," Kya continued, though her voice was dull in Korra's ear, too. "My mother discovered she was a healer like this when she was a little younger than you. Did she ever tell you the story?"

Kya's mother. _Katara._ "Katara?" Korra asked, sliding her eyes toward Kya's face, her interest increasing.

"Yes," Kya answered, nodding. "In the early days when my mom traveled with Aang, he accidentally burned her when he first learned firebending. My mom put her hands in water and she healed herself. It's a sign of powerful healing abilities."

Korra looked down at the water again. The water was still glowing, but she felt how her body pulled the water towards her. "I'm...bending?"

_Bending._ In her peripheral vision, Kya raised her hands in demonstration. "I'm not bending anymore. It's all you."

_It's all you. It's all you. _Korra twitched her fingers, and a current of water pushed away from her. _It's all me._ However, when she tried to do it again, the water stopped glowing and her push on the current was weaker. "I stopped," she said flatly, the dullness coming back.

Kya touched her shoulder gently. "It's progress. This is a very good sign."

"Good sign," Korra echoed, trying to bend again. It didn't work. She took in a deep breath, and tried healing instead, drawing cool mending energy rather than trying to manipulate it. The water tentatively began glowing again.

"Why don't you let me finish the healing session," Kya suggested softly. "We can have you hold your own healing session tomorrow, if you want."

Korra glanced up at her and tried to smile. "Sure."

Something flicked on in her chest, a slight tightness she used to associate with the feeling she felt after winning pro-bending matches forever ago, or the way Mako looked at her sometimes-she couldn't place it, but held onto the feeling, hoping it didn't fade away into dullness and apathy, and let Kya take over the healing session.

_. . ._

Later that day, Korra played with Rohan on her lap in the warm, humid air of the greenhouse while Pema and Ikki picked vegetables before dinner. Korra used to hate coming in here, hated how hot and stuffy it was and how it smelled too earthy and other weird smells, but now she couldn't find herself to think anything of it. The humid air made her hair stick to her forehead but she wasn't bothered by it, either. It reminded her of how her hair did the same thing when she used to sweat after intense training sessions.

Rohan gurgled and laughed as she pretended to bite at his hands, delighted with the little game they were playing. His hair was sticking up and matted from the humid air too, but it only added to his cherubic beauty. She remembered the day he was born and how he'd been a happy, pretty baby since then, brightening the dire situation they'd all been in at the time. Now he was almost walking and his gurgles were sounding closer to the beginning of words and he made a special sound when he saw her.

_Do you know how much things have changed? Will you remember any of this when you're older? _She tickled his tummy as she asked these questions in her mind. What would he think of her when he was older? Would he still be as happy to see her then as he did now? He didn't know she was the Avatar and all her failings, and for right now she was grateful for it. She was just another face, another person, that he liked seeing. She wished it would stay that way forever-that he would never have to learn about her, Avatar Korra, stuck in a wheelchair when the world needed her.

"Okay, I think we have enough for tonight," Pema announced from her spot in a carrot patch not far from where Korra was sitting. Korra's reverie was broken and she looked up. Ikki sighed loudly in relief and Pema touched her head softly with a smile. "Rohan isn't giving you too much trouble, Korra?" she asked, looking over at her.

Korra shook her head. "Not at all."

"Rohan always cries when I carry him," Ikki grumbled, flitting over with her basket of vegetables. Rohan immediately started reaching for one of the carrots sticking out, but Korra swiftly grasped his hands and started swinging his arms gingerly. "He doesn't like me."

"Of course he likes you," Korra said, furrowing her brow. "Why wouldn't Rohan like one of his sisters?" She looked down at Rohan, clutching his tiny hands in hers as she cooed at him. "Isn't that right, Rohan? You like Ikki, don't you?"

Rohan looked to Ikki and babbled happily. Korra glanced at Ikki with a smile. "See? He likes you."

Pema walked over, holding her basket with two hands. "Ikki, why don't you go on and take your basket in first and come back to help me with this."

"I can try and roll myself," Korra said quickly, knowing it was futile to offer anyway. "You don't have to make two trips."

Pema shook her head. "Nonsense. I could use your help chopping the vegetables and we can't have you using up all your energy getting back in the house. Ikki, go on."

Ikki nodded and glided towards the greenhouse entrance, leaving a cooling breeze of air behind her. Pema set down her basket and reached for Rohan, who'd turned to playing with Korra's hair. At the sight of his mother's arms, Rohan immediately let go and reached for her.

"We got a message from Tenzin and Bumi a little while ago," Pema said as she cradled Rohan on her shoulder. "They should be here in a couple of days. Katara has agreed to come with them."

_Katara._ The name sparked the same feeling she'd felt earlier during her healing session with Kya, but as the thought settled, the feeling twisted into something painful. She allowed herself a tiny sigh and nodded.

Pema kneeled down beside Korra. "Katara will be able to help you, I'm sure."

"I know she will," Korra replied, the hollow feeling in her chest expanding. _I don't even know what kind of help I need anymore,_ she thought.

Pema patted her hand. "I understand that things haven't exactly been easy. I wish there was more I could do to help you."

Korra shook her head, feeling heavy. "No, Pema, you've been great." _It's me. It's me, not you._ "Really. I'm getting better."

Pema nodded and got to her feet and tended to Rohan, who was starting to stir in her arms. She put Rohan down on the ground and held onto his hands while he tried to move around. He only got a few steps before his weight buckled his knees, but instead of crying when he hit the floor, he laughed.

Korra looked on and the hollowness in her chest got smaller and she was able to smile with Pema, wondering if her first steps would elicit the same reaction if it went like this.

. . .

For dinner, Korra found herself sitting outside in the cool air by her old favorite training spot as the sun squeezed out its last streaks of light across the sky behind them. Mako had come back from the city with her favorite noodles from Narook's ("I was just passing by," he'd said, clearly lying, because Headquarters was in the heart of downtown Republic City and Little Water Tribe was located in one of the outer boroughs on the north side of the city, and he'd mentioned that Lin was easing him back into police work at the station. Korra hadn't felt up to calling him out on it, though, and she really liked the noodles) and suggested they eat outside and enjoy the evening air. Pema had excused them-her, Mako, Asami, and Bolin-and they were eating in mostly comfortable silence with the radio plugged in and playing the latest pro-bending match.

"...The Rabbaroos are on fire tonight! This is more like the team that made it to the tournament almost a year ago!" Shiro Shinobi exclaimed with his unwavering enthusiasm. "Ulla holds nothing back, saying no thank you to the earth disc Chang aims at her chest and somersaulting away with a powerful earth disc combo of her own! Meanwhile, Ahni fires two quick shots with ruthless precision, blasting Hu back to Zone 3! One minute left on round two and it looks like-wait a second, Satuk and Ummi are still facing off, and Satuk is holding onto his Zone 2 ground despite all three Rabbaroos looking to knock him back..."

"Wow, probending feels like an eternity ago," Bolin said with a mouth full of noodles. "I don't miss it as much as I used to."

"I remember I didn't miss a single match last season," Asami added with a laugh. She was sitting right next to Korra on the steps behind Tenzin's house and was picking at her noodles-she had yet to acquire a taste for Water Tribe food like Bolin and Mako had but wasn't saying anything about it. "It was a while ago, wasn't it?"

Korra had asked to ditch the wheelchair and was happy to be sitting up by herself-ever since her small progress that morning with Kya, she was feeling stronger, even if she was getting tired quickly. She hoped no one would notice, but she could feel Mako's eyes on her from his seat across from her on the ground and Asami was sitting closer to lean on for support. Thinking about probending felt like thinking of a completely different time and a different version of herself.

"I can't believe we were so close to winning the championship!" Bolin pouted. "The Wolfbats didn't deserve to win, but I guess they got some karma with what happened with Amon..."

"Bro, really? That's not cool. What happened to The Wolfbats was awful," Mako said irritably. "But I am kind of bummed we missed out on the championship pot."

"Is money all you care about?" Bolin returned, pointing his chopsticks at his brother. Mako shrugged and dug into his noodles and Bolin sighed dramatically. "What about the glory? And the fans? Man, that was great."

It had been a simpler time, though Korra hadn't thought of it as such back then. She looked around at her friends, seeing how much they'd all been through since then-and how they were still with her. They still cared about her and she was starting to realize that they probably always would, regardless of what happened to her. She dropped her gaze to her lap, absently observing the tendrils of steam rising from her box of noodles, and felt a weight lift from her heavy heart. Her eyes pricked with the familiar sensation of impending tears, but this time she felt control over them.

"Korra? What's wrong?" Asami asked, touching her arm gently.

Korra looked up and blinked rapidly. "Nothing. I'm just-"

"Did I say something? I'm so sorry, Korra, I'm really bad at knowing what I can and can't talk about!" Bolin exclaimed, clapping a hand over his mouth.

She shook her head and set aside her box of noodles. "No, really, I'm fine, I just-"

"Do you want me to go and get Kya?" Mako asked, getting to his feet and going over to her side.

Korra huffed and wiped at her eyes. "Will you let me talk? I'm just really glad you're all here, okay?"

There was a moment of silence as her friends looked at her with shock, but they all thawed out of it quickly and Asami was the first to throw her arms around her, followed by Mako and lastly by Bolin. Their added weight strained her perpetually sore limbs but she didn't care and hugged them back.

"Of course we're here for you," Asami said, squeezing her gently. "We love and care about you."

They let go of her, Asami and Mako smiling and Bolin sniffling.

"I know you do. Things are still bad for me but...I know I'm not alone," she said, allowing herself a smile, feeling relief take root in her at last. The faces of her parents, Tenzin, Kya, Pema, the kids, Katara...they all joined with the faces of her friends in her thoughts, solidifying the feeling of not being alone. _I'm not alone. "_So...thank you. For not giving up on me."

"We'll never give up on you," Mako said, grabbing her hand.

She nodded, the tight feeling in her chest returning, spreading warmth and emotion through her body, and she was finally able to place it. It had been too long since she'd felt anything like it. _Happiness._

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><p>AN: Hi! I really wanted to try my hand at some post-Book 3, and after many failed attempts, I was finally able to get this. Originally it was going to be very heavily Makorra, but I decided against it when it wasn't working out the way I wanted it to. I'm okay with how this turned out-I didn't want it to be overly depressing. There's some symbolic meaning to Korra being able to heal first but don't ask me what it is because I don't know, it's just a hunch lol. Thank so much for reading, and I'd love feedback on this, be it what I did right and what I could have done better.


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